Beautiful World
by anjellyfish
Summary: She snapped her fingers and pointed her index finger in the air, as if the greatest idea she had ever thought of had popped into her head. Volkner can help settle her fears with the Old Chateau. It was frankly, the most brilliant idea she had thought of.


**Title: **Beautiful World

**Song listened to while thinking of/typing story:** Beautiful World - Utada Hikaru

**Summary: **She snapped her fingers and pointed her index finger in the air, as if the greatest idea she had ever thought of had popped into her head. Volkner can help settle her fears with the Old Chateau. It was, frankly, the most brilliant idea she had thought of yet.

**Pairings: **VolknerxGardenia, MortyxGhost pkmn :D

**A/N:** Some stuff from D/P/Pt are in here, such as Rotom, and the conversations you have with Gardenia when you find her standing in front of the Old Chateau and such. :D It's slightly long, but I'm proud of it. This story is written in six short sections. The **bold** print marks the start of a new section. Please review. Thank you and enjoy!

**Really curious.**

Curiosity overwhelmed her, but her fear of the dark would always override her intense desire to know what lied beyond the doors to the Old Chateau. Even when she planned to explore the run down mansion during the day, when the sun was clear and high in the sky, fear struck her to the very bottom of her stomach as she stood at the entrance.

It was clear to everyone, including herself, that it was impossible for her to even take one step inside.

The rumors never ceased to wander her mind. Whether she was sitting in her gym waiting for challengers to defeat all the other opponents to get to her, or taking an afternoon stroll in Eterna Forest, she would always be deep in thought - either about that new grass pokèmon that was seen entering and exiting out of the Old Chateau at around the dead of night, or about the strange figure that seemed to _dance _around the old mansion.

In any case, she was really curious.

**One stupid bet.**

There she stood, at the entrance of her gym, getting ready to finally explore the object of where all her worst fears resided; a trainer stopped her from going any further.

She blinked once. Twice. Then she grinned, finally realizing that the trainer had come to challenge her. "At my Gym, no one gets to battle with the Gym Leader - me - until they've beaten all the other Trainers. I'll be waiting out in the back. Good luck, challenger!" she declared loudly before speeding away to her designated area at the back. She'd often make bets with herself - sometimes, it was about the most strangest things. One stupid bet she'd made not too long ago was if she didn't learn how to ride a bike in one day, she'd have to run past the attendants at the cycling road gates and sprint all the way to the other side. She remembered that day so vividly - she'd gotten reprimanded severely from the Eterna City elders. Quite unpleasant, that day.

After a few moments of reminiscing, she took a deep breath; the challenger who she'd seen at the door approached her. Her thoughts circled her mind as her heart pulsed in her ears and pounded her chest. _If I lose, I explore the Old Chateau; today. If I win, then the rumors are all lies; I don't need to go anymore. _She nodded her head and pointed out at the trainer with a wide grin.

"You kept me waiting! I'm Eterna's Gym Leader, Gardenia, the Grass-type master! When I first saw you, I was convinced you'd find your way to me. My hunch was right on the money. You have a winning aura about you. So, anyway, this will be fun. Let's have our battle."

**Too afraid.**

She gulped, the only thing standing between her and the old mansion were two brittle trees and a tiny, beat-up fence. She pulled a pokèball out from her back pocket and gulped. The next thing she had to do was call out her Turtwig and command it to use _Cut_ on the tree that stood in her way.

But she was hesitant. Someone was watching her; the sound of breathing coming from right behind her, she turned around and nearly jumped in surprise. The trainer that she'd lost to stood behind her, eye brow arched, and slightly curious as to what she was doing. She regained herself and greeted the trainer with a "Hiya!"

"Were you intrigued by the rumors going around, too?" she asked, trying to sound like her usual, chipper self.

"You know, people've been talking about the ghost Pokémon of the Old Chateau. I've been hearing rumors about sinister shadows, too." she paused slightly before continuing on. "I should check it out myself, but going in there is...Well, you know, being that I'm a Gym Leader, I'm always busy. So, since I'm so busy, I can't go in. It's not because I'm s-scared! S-so, good luck with your investigation!" She turned to leave, but swore she caught a glimpse of the trainer smirking at her as she exited the forest.

It was clear to everyone, including herself, _and now_ the powerful trainer that she had just lost to, that it was impossible for her to take one step inside.

She was just too afraid.

**Brilliant idea.**

When entering and leaving Eterna Forest, she'd always have to pass by the Old Chateau. That was one thing she disliked about coming to her favorite place everyday. She especially didn't like when she stayed out very late in the night at the forest.

She had once taken a nap that lasted a lot longer than she expected and had awoken to the sound of a Ghastly laughing hauntingly at her. Since that scary encounter, her fear of ghosts grew.

Again, she found herself under the same tree that she'd take a nap under. This time, she was deep in thought - and with her Turtwig as well. "'Stupid trainer," she mumbled under her breath. "for making me seem like even _more_ of a coward." then she turned to her side and pursed her lips, a gesture that would occur when she had to concentrate really hard.

Roark first came to mind. The Underground Man had told her about these stories of Roark. He'd always have to work in the mines - he wasn't afraid of the dark, it seemed. She thought about requesting for some help from him, but was hesitant. Would he even be interested in coming all the way to Eterna Forest just to see a haunted mansion? Quite frankly, she didn't really like being near him. He reeked of coal, which was foul-smelling to her nose. She felt as if she were blackening her lungs whenever she stood next to him. "Nah." she simply muttered and shook her head.

Maylene, maybe? She was brave and was a very close friend of hers. "Do you think Maylene would help me, Turtwig?" she glanced at her pokèmon. Her Turtwig shifted uncontrollably and let out a small cry.

_Why are you asking __**me**__ this? _The Turtwig looked slightly irritated. Gardenia sighed and turned over to lean on her back. "You're right, Turtwig. Maylene's fighting-type pokèmon can't protect us from all the Ghost pokèmon in there. It's useless." she felt doubtful.

Roark's father would probably laugh at her. Imagining herself asking Byron for his help started to make her feel mortified. Crasher Wake was intimidating, even though he was the hearty grandfather figure of all the gym leaders in Sinnoh. He talked a lot more than she did, anyway; and it irritated the heck out of her when someone talked more than she did.

Candice would be up for adventure, but Gardenia was an impatient girl. It would take days for Candice to get to Eterna City with all the heavy snow and blizzards in between.

Fantina was no option. Even though she was nice and - in some ways - similar to Gardenia, her specialty was in Ghost-type pokèmon; and Fantina loved to scared Gardenia with her Mismagius whenever she came to Hearthome City for a visit.

"I'll never get over my fear of ghost pokèmon." she bit her bottom lips and sulked against the trunk of the tree. Turtwig cried out again and shook its head from side to side, as if trying to shake something off.

_You forgot to mention about your fear of the dark, you silly human. _

Gardenia chuckled and gave a closed-lipped smile. "I'm sure I'll think of something too, Turtwig." she said, agreeing to what she thought her Turtwig meant.

Then, almost immediately after that, she snapped her fingers and pointed her index finger in the air, as if the greatest idea she had ever thought of had popped into her head. Volkner can help settle her fears with the Old Chateau. It was, frankly, the most brilliant idea she had thought of yet.

**Bored.**

She sprinted through the forest, half racing-half playing with her Turtwig and headed straight into her Gym for a phone. Being a certified gym leader; she could contact the other gym leaders easily. She quickly scanned the buttons on the phone and pressed the eighth button. The Pokèmon League was always number one on the speed dial. Then the rest would be placed in order alphabetically. Volkner was always the last.

With excitement, Gardenia tightened her grip on the phone. A husky, 'hello?' came from the other end of the line. "VOLKNER!" she shouted, to which Volkner threatened that he'd hang up if she didn't speak any quieter. "Oops, sorry. Haha." she stuck her tongue out playfully to amuse herself and then cleared her throat.

"Are you bored?" she simply questioned.

Then the line went quiet. Gardenia thought that the line had been disconnected and softly spoke into the phone again. "Hello?"

"I'm going to hang up." Volkner replied.

"WAIT!" she shrieked into the phone, causing Volkner to wince. "You called me to ask if I'm _bored_? Well, are _you_ bored, since you're calling me and all?" he questioned, in a slightly rude tone. "Well, _excuse me_ for trying to relieve my boredom by doing something _reasonable_, Mr. When-I'm-bored-I-renovate-my-gym-and-cause-city-wide-black-outs."

Again, there was silence, which prompted Gardenia to answer into the phone again. "Hello?" she said, softly.

"Do you want me to hang up?" Volkner warned, obviously un-amused to Gardenia's remark.

"Wait, wait." Gardenia begged, restraining herself from shouting into the phone. "I was just wondering if you'd like to explore the Old Chateau with me-" before she could finish, Volkner rudely interrupted.

"Why would I want to do that?" although she couldn't see it, she could sense the smirk from Volkner's lips. She bit her bottom lip in thought and inwardly cursed at him.

Then she slyly replied. "Because I'm the coolest person you've ever met." Again, both gym leaders stayed silent. This prompted Gardenia to shout into the phone again, just to irritate him.

"I'm just too busy." Volkner finally answered.

"With _what_? Being bored?" Gardenia quickly protested. "You keep complaining about how your challengers aren't worth battling in the first place. You may as well go on a little trip out of the city so that the challengers are given more time to train their pokèmon until you get back."

Then she continued listing other reasons as well. "What if we discover a new dual-type pokèmon? Perhaps a ghost/electric pokèmon?" she was unsure if she could convince him.

Volkner sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I'll probably be there around this evening." he stated, with little enthusiasm and hung up before Gardenia could say anything else.

**Stranger in the dark.**

When Volkner arrived, he experienced what all the other gym leaders in Sinnoh called: The Rapeseed Effect. The little kids called it "The Gardenia Condition" Either way, Volkner felt disturbed. The moment Gardenia had spotted him, she sprinted towards him. He was slightly amazed at how much stamina she had; she came running to him when he was still very far away from her, after all.

She wrapped her arms around his torso and proceeded to hug him very tightly. After she let go, he felt as if both his lungs have shrunk. Then she forcefully plucked the Raichu from his shoulder and did the same to it.

Raichu looked miserable for a moment, until she finally let go. It shook its head and cried out softly.

'_Rapeseed Effect' is right. Her hands can really crush._

Volkner crossed his arms and frowned. "Are you done harassing my pokèmon?"

"You Raichu can use Flash, correct?" Gardenia asked, oblivious to Volkner's question. She headed in the direction of the forest and looked back over her shoulder to see Volkner nodding in reply. "That's awesome." she said, delightfully. Volkner smirked and sped up to walk along next to his fellow colleague. "Did you want me to come along with you to investigate the Old Chateau because you're too afraid to do it on your own?" he quietly asked.

Gardenia stayed silent for a few seconds and then quickly regained herself. "I needed a pokèmon that could light up dark places. Couldn't think of anyone but you." she answered and turned her head and laughed, a hint of nervousness was audible.

"You're afraid of Ghost pokèmon, right?"

Gardenia clicked her tongue. "Isn't it obvious to everyone?"

Volkner shook his head, knowing all too well. "You're not just afraid of that." he paused, waiting to see her reaction. Gardenia nervously pursed her lips together. Satisfied with her reaction, he continued on. "You're afraid of the dark, too."

Immediately, Gardenia sprinted into the forest with Volkner bolting right behind her. "Hold it!" he grunted and reached out to latch onto her shoulder. Just as he had done so, she came to an abrupt halt which caused him to nearly bump into her. With his hand, still locked on her shoulder, he stopped to pant and then looked up. "Is this it?" he questioned, after realizing that she had taken him to the Old Chateau.

Gardenia gave a small nod and made her way across the front lawn. Volkner followed close behind with his Raichu settled comfortably on his shoulder. Gardenia stopped abruptly at the door and turned to him with luminous, hazel eyes. "Open it?" she half directed, half asked him to do so.

He gave her a dubious look and reached over to turn the knob, when the door slightly opened on its own. Volkner, who was bewildered, cocked his head to the side with furrowed eyebrows. His Raichu did the same.

Gardenia, on the other hand, took a step closer to Volkner and balled her hands into fists; pulling them to her mouth. Then she let out a loud, pitchy scream. Startled by the strength of her voice, Raichu jumped off of Volkner's shoulder and ran in circles around Gardenia as if to calm her down. Then it stopped at her feet and nudged her gently with its large tail.

Volkner put an arm around her shoulders and placed his free hand over her mouth. "Be quiet!" he hissed and reassured to her that everything was going to be fine. "Don't scream. If you're scared, just tell me. Then I'll take you home." he explained in a calm voice and let go of her.

"I-I'm not scared." she said, clearing her voice. Volkner gave her a doubtful look and rolled his eyes, heading inside.

Raichu nudged her again in reassurance and climbed onto her shoulder. It let out a soft murmur and nodded.

_Don't be scared. Volkner and I are with you. _

Gardenia smiled and took a deep breath before walking inside. Raichu lit up and a bright light shone throughout the room. First, they explored the dining room and the kitchen. Then the headed upstairs to investigate the storage rooms. After finding nothing, they went into some of the bedrooms. One room, in particular, had a weird wall painting. Another room had a television that was left on and could not be turned off.

"What's up with this thing?" Volkner lightly tapped the screen of the TV and examined it. Gardenia shivered, feeling even more paranoid and softly cried out. "This room gives me the creeps. Can we go, now?" she whimpered. "Just a sec." Volkner mumbled under his breath and went down on one knee to further examine the TV.

Then, the sound of a vase breaking was heard and Gardenia let out another scream. Startled by her scream, Volkner stood up and looked back at her. Raichu, who was propped on her shoulder, covered her mouth with its tail and gave her a small zap, which prompted her to stop screaming.

"It was probably the wind that knocked something over." Volkner suggested and turned back to the TV, only to see something orange with blue eyes emerge from the screen of the TV. It made a crackling sound and zapped Volkner's fingertips.

Surprised, Volkner took a few steps back and gestured for Gardenia to leave the room. Gardenia, who took a few moments to process this in her head, took a step back out of the room and then ran out, screaming at the top of her lungs. Volkner took a slow step back and closely dodged a thunderbolt that flew in his direction. Then he followed Gardenia out of the Old Chateau.

"AHHH!" Gardenia was still screaming, with Raichu hanging onto her for dear life. "Stop screaming, Gardenia. We're out!" he called out to her. "There's another ghost that followed us!" she shrieked and pointed at the dark, human-like figure that was just a few feet away.

"Another ghost?" Volkner turned to look in the direction that she pointed and squinted his eyes very carefully. After a while, he smiled and laughed. He turned back to catch up to Gardenia, but she had already left the forest.

The ghost that she thought had followed them was just another fellow gym leader from another region. This stranger in the dark was Morty, who spun around in delight, indulging in the presence of the many ghost pokèmon near the Old Chateau.

* * *

_Is that what happened, when they went to the old mansion?_ Turtwig cried out in multiple tones.

Raichu nodded and spread its little arms in a big circle. _Yeah. This big orange and blue thing came out from the black box with the glowing screen, Gardenia screamed like crazy._

Turtwig smiled and bounced as it laughed. _That's Gardenia. She's so silly. _

Raichu let out a few startling cries as it smiled and joined in on the laughter. "What do you think they're laughing about?" Volkner asked, his question directed at Gardenia and his eyes aimed at the two pokèmon. Gardenia stared at their pokèmon in fascination and shrugged. "I… don't know…" her voice trailed on.

Turtwig let out a small cry. _Humans, they'll never understand us. _

Raichu nodded and shrieked loudly. _You've got that right. _

**A/N:** I like this pairing. Why? It's because Gardenia and Volkner make up for what the other is missing. Volkner's always bored and he, himself (to be honest) is a boring and dull person. Gardenia is energetic, loud, and over all, a fun and sunny kind of person. Volkner can count on her for when he needs some fun in his life, and Gardenia can count on him for when she's afraid of the dark. (Because he can light everything up) I also titled this fic "Beautiful World" because that's the song I was listening to as I thought of this story and typed it up. There will be two more fics on this pairing and will be posted up around next month. (One of them may be a smut, but that's **only **if I get any reviews for this fic.) I will also be doing request pairings for pokemon. Feel free to give me any ideas. Anyway, I hope you all like this. If you liked this, please review. I'd also like some critique. Thank you! (:


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